"The Pumpkin Cookbook" - Roasted Corn Pumpkin Chowder - Halloween!

Date I made this recipe:  October 31, 2017 – Halloween!

The Pumpkin Cookbook – 139 Recipes Celebrating the Versatility of Pumpkin and Other Winter Squash by DeeDee Stovel

Published by Storey

ISBN: 978-1-61212-833-7; copyright 2005,2017

Purchased at Bibelot Shops – St. Paul

Recipe:  Roasted Corn Pumpkin Chowder – p. 54

Well, it’s that time of year again which is to say it is fall and also Halloween.  I am not fond of either of these two “events.”

Fall is the season of dead things which is to say my allergies just go into overdrive.  It is also the calm before the storm of winter, and it has been gray in these parts now for oh, I don’t know—forever?  Okay, not really.  Let’s say for the past three weeks if not longer.  It’s also been cold which is why Halloween is no fun.  Did you ever hear a kid beg to put a coat on over his/her costume?  No, you did not!

And then there’s pumpkin which I don’t loathe but it’s not something I cozy up to, either.  It’s okay.  The taste is neither here nor there unless you add some spices to it but I’m not exactly fond of pumpkin spice so there’s another problem I have to overcome every year.  Then there’s the smell problem which is to say that once upon a time, real pumpkin spice didn’t really smell but if it did, it was a lovely scent reminding us of mom’s baking and family Thanksgiving.  Once everybody and their mother (but not my mother) got their hands on it though, it is now everywhere and in everything.  Starbucks of course, pushes the hell out of pumpkin-spiced lattes (usually in July which is maddening), grocery stores start carrying pumpkin-spiced everything and of course, stores like Bed, Bath & Beyond (a store I love), choke me out with their fake pumpkin-spiced candles and doodads.  Migraines are not fun, and there’s a special place in hell reserved for companies that trigger one by spraying everything with “that crap.”

Still, whilst shopping a few months back at one of my favorite stores, Bibelot (fun gifts, cool stuff), I spied this book, The Pumpkin Cookbook.  I debated and debated and then finally thought, “Oh, all right then” and so I brought it home, marked my calendar to remind me to use it and proceeded to flag some recipes.

What I really liked about this book is not only the wide variety of chapters/recipes from which to choose, but also because pages 16 and 17 break out all the recipes by how you want to use your pumpkin, to wit: “Baked or Roasted Pumpkin;” “Steamed or Microwaved Pumpkin;” “Raw Pumpkin;” “Canned Unsweetened Pumpkin or Puree,” and “Pepitas” (Pumpkin Seeds).  I think this is a damned fine idea!  They don’t match the cooking method to the Table of Contents, but they do reference page numbers so that helps.

Here then, is the Table of Contents:

• Starters, Snack & Beverages
• Soups & Salads
• Side Dishes
• Main Courses
• Breads
• Pies
• Cookies
• Cakes
• Desserts & Delicacies

 Many of the sweet treats sounded fantastic, but I thought that was too easy and expected so I looked at the savory options.  In the running were:

• Black Bean (and Pumpkin) Dip – p. 22
• Holiday Pumpkin Dip – p. 23
• Roasted Ginger Pumpkin-Pear Soup – p. 40
• Italian Pumpkin Soup with Crushed Amaretti Cookies – p. 55
• Chicken-Pumpkin Tacos – p. 102
• Punkin’ [Sloppy] Joes – p. 130
• Spaghetti with Peppers, Onions, and Sausage (and Pumpkin) – p. 141
• Creamy Fusilli, Sausage and Pumpkin [Pasta] – p. 145

Any of these would have been fine although since I am such a fan of Sloppy Joes, I was leaning in that direction.  Then I handed the book off to Andy and asked him to choose something, thinking he would choose one of the recipes I flagged in advance.  Turned out he went “rogue” on me and selected something I hadn’t marked and that is how I came to make tonight’s dinner selection – Roasted Corn Pumpkin Chowder (p. 54).  I did not see that coming!

Since both of us are chowder fans, this one hit all the basic requirements:  corn, potatoes, a creamy broth, bacon (a nice addition) and even cheddar cheese.  The pumpkin was a nice addition, but pumpkin can be rather bland, and so it could have benefitted from more spice in the dish.  Aside from salt, the full recipe called for ½ teaspoon dried thyme and 1/8-1/4 teaspoon white pepper. Plan on using more.

As you might imagine, step one was to find a cooking pumpkin, carve it up which is to say, cut it into chunks, and roast it.  That was easy enough, but you’ll have to watch your cooking times.  The pumpkin was to roast for 35 minutes and then another 30 minutes once you add some, but not all, of the frozen corn.  After 65 minutes, my pumpkin was more than done and it was okay, but I ended up scrapping it off the rind and then pulsing it in a food processor instead of adding it in chunks to the broth.  No biggie.

I also found some “fresh” corn at Trader Joe’s and thought to myself “Wouldn’t this be better than frozen corn?  Of course, it would!”  Andy though, thought I should have used frozen and he was not wrong, but he picked a fine time to tell me which was while we were eating it!

Finally, I would be remiss if I did not mention that pumpkin does not appeal to a lot of people, primarily because of its appearance which is to say, “not pretty” and/or “completely unappetizing,” and/or “reminds me of baby [you know];” I’ll let you fill in the blanks on what “you know” is. This soup’s appearance is also “not pretty” but the flavor is good and if anything, suffers from not having enough.  That’s an easy remedy in my book.

This then, concludes Halloween, pumpkins and fake pumpkin spice, and hooray for that.  Meanwhile, I’ll have to brace myself before I go into Bed, Bath & Beyond because tis the season for fake evergreen.  Dear Lord, it just never ends, does it?

Roasted Corn Pumpkin Chowder – Serves 8

1 pound fresh pumpkin, seeds and fibers removed, cut into chunks

3 cups frozen corn

4 slices bacon

1 onion, chopped (about 1 cup)

1 red bell pepper, chopped

¾ pound (about 8 small) Yukon Gold potatoes

5 cups chicken broth

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon dried thyme

1/8 – ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper

1 cup half-and-half

1 cup grated cheese (for topping)

Heat oven to 400°F.  Grease a sheet pan with oil.  Rub the chunks of pumpkin with oil and bake for 35 minutes or until slightly tender.  Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F.  Add 2 cups (out of 3) of the corn and cook 30 minutes more, stirring occasionally, until the corn is lightly toasted and the pumpkin tender.  Cool.  Peel the pumpkin and cut into ½-inch cubes.  Ann’s Note [of caution]:  If making a half recipe, I suggest baking for 17 minutes or so (half the stated time) and then checking.  Do the same when you add the corn to the pumpkin i.e. no more than 15 minutes out of the 30 that is called for.  My pumpkin overbaked a bit which was fine but not what the author intended.  I also found a small baking pumpkin rather than a large jack-o-lantern (although do NOT use that for baking) and smaller pumpkins cook faster, or so it seemed!

Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a Dutch oven until crispy.  Drain, crumbled, and set aside.  Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the bacon fat and cook the onion in the fat for about 5 minutes, until it is wilted.  Add the bell peppers and continue cooking for 3 minutes.

Add the potatoes, broth, salt, thyme, and white pepper.  Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer, partially covered, for 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.

Add the pumpkin to the soup, along with the roasted corn and the remaining frozen corn.  Continue cooking for another 10 minutes, until the pumpkin is quite soft.  Add the half-and-half and cook only until heated through.  Don’t let it boil.

Serve topped with the cheese and crumbled bacon.